Why Rasmus Hojlund and Man Utd could be a perfect match

The Dane has attracted plenty of admirers during his 12 months in Serie A with Atalanta, and with a reported fee of £64 million plus an additional £8 million in add-ons, his move to the English club is set to make him Man United's sixth most-expensive signing ever.

Hojlund's rise to this point has been nothing short of meteoric. He joined Atalanta just last summer in a deal worth £15 million and within a year, has now secured a move to one of the biggest clubs in the world.

Prior to his time in Italy, he had a brief spell at Austrian side Sturm Graz, where he was signed for a meagre fee of £1.5 million from Copenhagen in January 2022.

With the addition of Andre Onana as a goalkeeper, Mason Mount in midfield, and now Hojlund, the club have addressed the three key areas they needed to reinforce this summer.

Erik ten Hag reiterated the need for more firepower in attack following the 2-0 friendly loss to Real Madrid last Thursday. The Red Devils failed to convert any of their 14 chances on the Madrid goal.

Asked if that attacking display stateside underlined why they were looking to sign a new forward, Ten Hag admitted: "Absolutely...

"There were two things - the pressing can be better from the start, and scoring goals. I think we need more players who are capable in the one-on-ones and we had the situations of one-on-ones."

While Hojlund fills that void, the fee paid for the player has raised some eyebrows. Especially as last season, he scored nine Serie A goals from an xG of 9.5 across 1,832 league minutes. Solely from xG perspective, that’s about an on-par performance, but nothing more.

However, the club's willingness to invest a significant sum in his transfer fee indicates their confidence in his abilities, and a delve deeper into his profile does indicate why United officials are convinced his ceiling can be a very high one.

For all players aged under 21 across Europe’s top five leagues, only Montpellier’s Elye Sepe Wahi managed more goals than Hojlund. The Dane ranked fourth in that group for averaging the highest number of shots per 90 (2.05) and third for the highest xG per 90 (0.37). He also ranked second for having the second-highest shot conversion rate (20 per cent).

Put simply, in terms of young dangerous strikers, there are few on the continent who can rival Hojlund's output.

His aptitude for getting himself in good shooting locations in and around the opponent’s goal is aided by impressive speed and agility, despite his 6'3" stature.

He displays a natural instinct for finding space, exploiting openings, or punishing defenders’ lapses in concentration.

An example of this is below, taken from Denmark’s 1-1 draw with Slovenia in June. Note how tightly the forward is being marked as the attack is building down the left.

However, in the space of just one second, Hojlund is able to break free from his marker, who is caught ball-watching, to attack the low cross and steer the ball home. That was his sixth goal for Denmark across his last four international appearances.

The forward also boasts lightning-quick acceleration which allows him to burst past defenders with ease, and it was this facet of his game that drew notable public praise from Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini back in March:

"He is a very fast player, he does the 100 metres in less than 11 seconds. For his height, he has a low centre of gravity and an incredible stride frequency.”

Hojlund’s pace, intelligence and threat in front of goal have led to comparisons with Manchester City’s Erling Haaland - both are tall, blonde, and left-footed. However, at three years his junior, it’s too soon to put the Dane in the same bracket as Haaland.

Nevertheless, going from a £1.5m player to a potential £72m player in the space of 18 months highlights the rapid speed of his development, and the fact that he's also a boyhood United fan should only enhance the forward’s own drive to make this a perfect match.

Having already laid impressive foundations, the school of thought at Manchester United is that under Ten Hag, he can continue to progress and become the world-class striker the Red Devils’ crave.